'It's still going?' Alex questioned internally.
He expected the memories to end here, but instead a new scene opened up before him once again.
Sunlight streamed through the kitchen window, casting a warm glow on the room.
It was morning, and Mira sat at the table, her feet dangling joyfully from her chair, swinging back and forth as she nibbled on her breakfast.
Opposite her Officer Jones looked over with a smile, bustling around the kitchen, making pancakes, his back to Mira. The smell of coffee and freshly cooked breakfast filled the air, creating a sense of normalcy and comfort that Mira had rarely known.
"Did you sleep well?" Officer Jones asked, glancing over his shoulder with a warm smile.
This was his first time in his 35 years of life that he had taken on the role of a father, and he had enjoyed every moment of it ever since he had taken Mira in.
He had always been unsure on whether he wanted kids or not, but after spending time with Mira, his opinion had completely flipped.
Seeing Mira happy made him even happier, and it was the highlight of his day when he saw her laugh joyfully, especially after she had been through the kind of hell she had lived in for the past 9 years.
He even became more motivated in his everyday life, at work, at almost everything.
Taking Mira in had been the best decision he had ever made, and he would never regret a thing.
Though he did feel a little bit guilty of burying her under all that rubble when he first breached her house...
Mira nodded, her mouth full. She swallowed quickly and smiled back.
"Un, the bed you gave me is very comfortable Uncle Jones."
Mira had stopped calling him Officer Jones now, as it seemed a little too formal for their relationship.
But he also didn't want her to start calling him 'dad' either, as he didn't feel comfortable with it considering her past...
"Remember, you can just call me Uncle. You don't have to call my last name every time you speak to me. We're family now," he said, flipping a pancake with practised ease.
Mira's heart swelled with an unfamiliar sense of warmth at the word 'Family'. It felt strange and wonderful to think of herself as part of a real family now.
'Uncle Jones...'
Officer Jones was laying on the ground, unmoving, with a man standing over him.
Mira recognised the man immediately.
It was her father.
He stood there, a cruel smirk on his face, holding a long blade, which Mira quickly noticed was impaled in Officer Jones' chest.
Panic and terror gripped Mira.
She slammed the door shut, screaming and crying, as she ran towards her bedroom to hide, her tears blurring her vision.
She crawled under her bed, sobbing uncontrollably.
Find adventures at mvlemp-y,r.
Her mind raced, trying to make sense of the horror she had just witnessed, hoping desperately that it was all just a nightmare and that she would wake up soon.
But nothing she did could wake her up from this nightmare.
In her desperation, she reached into her shirt, taking out a small necklace that Officer Jones had given to her on the first day he brought her home.
He told her that if she ever felt herself in danger and scared, that she should press the button and everything would become better, that she would no longer be scared when she did so.
With trembling hands, she pressed the button.
Immediately, a loud, high pitched alarm starts blaring from all directions outside the house.
Mira didn't know what she expected to happen when she pressed the button, but this wasn't it.
She had no clue what the sound was for, but it was all too well known to the other occupants of the neighbourhood.
It was a panic alarm given to all police officer's families, for them to use if they were ever in an emergency or under attack.